Video: The Conservative Case for Cornyn

posted at 8:41 pm on January 15, 2014 by Mary Katharine Ham

Rep. Steve Stockman, who entered the race at the last minute to challenge Cornyn from the right, hasn’t been making many public appearances, and missing several of those he’d scheduled. But he was in North Texas Tuesday, where he was applauded by some conservatives impressed he had given up his safe Congressional seat to make the run. His money disadvantage remains daunting, $32,000 to Cornyn’s $7 million.

Speaking to about 50 people at the Preston Hollow Tea Party meeting at Fellowship Bible Church in North Dallas, Stockman faulted Cornyn for failing to stand with Sen. Ted Cruz in the fight against President Barack Obama’s signature health care law.

Cornyn, the GOP’s deputy leader in the Senate, along with many other Republicans, argued last year against the tactic of threatening a government shutdown unless Democrats agreed to defund Obamacare.

Stockman has made few public appearances since he entered the race at the last minute last month. He didn’t show up at a scheduled tea party event in Bedford on Monday night, citing traffic problems.

Some supporters in the Dallas audience applauded Stockman for challenging Cornyn instead of seeking re-election in a safe Houston-area House district.

“I admire that,” said Del Parker, 66, a tea party activist who attended the event. “That’s burning the bridges to retreat. That’s leadership, and that commands respect from people who will follow him. He’s in this thing to win it and not to be a career politician.”

Wherever you stand on this particular primary, this particular line—”If [people] wanted a Democrat, they would have voted for one.”— seems C’mon, MAN.

A new web video highlights the work Cornyn has done on Fast & Furious and Obamacare, but more entertainingly, his work toe-to-toe with Eric Holder and Kathleen Sebelius:

Blowback

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To the immediate right I see an ad from “Texans for a Conservative Majority” ” “STEVE STOCKMAN: The only TX Congressman that didn’t disclose his income in 2012″ At least some of that 7 million is being spread around here.

(And no, Cornyn isn’t being replaced. As Mark Davis has said on his morning show, Kay Bailey wouldn’t have been replaced, either. She left her seat.)

It surprises me how many so called “conservative pundits” there are that believe sending back Cornyn and McConnell and all the other RINOS that always have an excuse for not doing the right thing will make everything better.

As far as I’m concerned, the party leadership hasn’t learned anything from their 2006/2008 losses, and has moved even further to the left than they did back then.

If you are still voting for the same GOP hack that has been in congress for over 10 years, YOU ARE PART OF THE PROBLEM!

This gentleman entered the fight to primary Cornyn months ago…he is a true conservative and needs a lot of grassroots support to prevail. Then Texas will have two Senators that mean business! http://www.texansforstovall.com/

Cornyn has a conservative rating of 93.8% and he is a RINO??!!??///..:)

Dire Straits on January 15, 2014 at 9:34 PM

I presume you are using the ACU rating, which is far more generous than other conservative rating groups. The ACU, which supports amnesty (or at least its president does) won’t rate Cornyn low if he is soft on amnesty.

It is THE ISSUE, as far as I’m concerned, since it would eventually cause such irreversible harm on the country, totally alter the electorate and eventually prevent the election of a conservative to the White House ever again. This issue affects all others.

California once elected conservatives statewide. Not anymore, thanks to mass, unchecked illegal immigration. Pass illegal alien amnesty and get California’s predicament in the rest of the country.

How appropo, on the heels of a thread in which Cornyn clearly indicates he’s on-board for amnesty.
I’m shocked – shocked – that HA would be making the case for a RINO.

Midas on January 15, 2014 at 9:25 PM

Articles like this and her support of amnesty indicate that Mary Katharine isn’t as conservative as some here picture her as being. She may be conservative by Salem standards, but to paraphrase Sarah Palin “if Salem didn’t have low standards with respect to conservatism, it wouldn’t have any standards at all.”

Can’t even begin to tell you all how seriously BUMMED I am about not having a promising contender to get rid of the so NOT conservative Cornyn. I badly wanted that man gone from the Senate and not representing Texas. He is nothing but a snake. It’s all I can do to not tear my car apart when I hear that piece of crap ad of his come on the radio. Well, I plan to vote for Stovall in the primary. Of all the contenders, he seems to be the best. Will not pull the lever for Cornyn in the primary or general. If you aren’t conservative, you haven’t earned my vote. And for all of you who want to spout that ‘then you’re voting for the Democrat’ crap, shut it. Not voting for one person isn’t the same as voting for the other guy. No more the lesser of two evils. I say no to evil period.

It is THE ISSUE, as far as I’m concerned, since it would eventually cause such irreversible harm on the country, totally alter the electorate and eventually prevent the election of a conservative to the White House ever again. This issue affects all others.

bluegill on January 15, 2014 at 9:50 PM

Very valid comment. Anything else can be undone. Amnesty cannot be undone.

People like Morrissey and Ham always overlook studies that indicate that illegals who received amnesty in 1986 sponsored an average of five relatives. If that holds true, and the laws affecting “family reunification” have not changed since 1986, we could easily be looking at 60+ million mostly uneducated, unskilled aliens over a 15-20 year period. And, other studies illustrate that aliens are far more likely to be receiving entitlements than native-born Americans.

Just as a football team gets weaker if it drafts unskilled players, a country becomes weaker if it imports people who are often illiterate in their own language. Canada and Mexico attempt to limit immigration to educated professionals who will benefit their countries – not future welfare kings and queens.

During the government shutdown, after McCain, Graham, and Cornyn were attacking the Republicans who wanted to defund Obamacare, John Cornyn was MSNBC’s favorite Republican. Why was that? I believe, if Cornyn and company had really tried to devise a strategy (They knew this was coming well before it happened) and presented a united front with the House, it was possible to have accomplished something. As it was, they left their fellow Senators dangling in the breeze and left the House out to dry. WHere is the Senate on the IRS scandal? Where is the Senate on Obamacare? Where is the Senate on Fast and Furious? When the Democrats were in the minority, they didn’t allow the Republicans to push them around without a fight. Where is the fight for these Republicans? Where is the leadership from these Republicans?

I won’t say Cornyn is a RINO, but I will say he’s become the establishment and is far better at posturing than fighting for the citizens of Texas.

PS..His 93.8 composite conservative score beat out the likes of then-Sen. Jim DeMint, who now leads the ultraconservative Heritage Foundation..:)

Dire Straits on January 15, 2014 at 9:51 PM

The problem is that issues on which the ratings are determined are all assumed to be equal. The internet sales tax and amnesty are hardly equal.

Common sense dictates that this is very wrong. If you truly believe Cornyn is more conservative than DeMint, I have some oceanfront property in the slums of Detroit that I can sell you at a good price.

‘Amnesty’ has the potential to be *ultimately* destructive of the country in terms of what it was founded to be.

Many other issues are harmful, and in aggregate extremely harmful to the point of fatality – but you can get much of the rest of it ‘right’ and get amnesty ‘wrong’ – and it won’t matter how much of the rest of it was ‘right’ – it’s still game over.

2. Corny endorsed Charlie Crist over Marco Rubio – Crist then left the Republican Party to run independent.

3. Corny WASTED $10M dollars on Carly Fiorino in California – in a race against Boxer that wasn’t even close.

4. Corny sent lawyers to Alaska to help RINO Murkowski in a recount of votes after SHE FAIRLY LOST the Republican primary. Let’s state that again – he WORKED AGAINST THE CHOICE OF REPUBLICAN VOTERS to try to ensure his establishment RINO squeeze was sent back to Washington. He then had to recall his lawyers when voters became ENRAGED at what he was doing.

5. After Murkowski ran as an independent – and won – he welcomed this shit stain back into the Republican fold with open arms – even though it was clear she was not the choice of Republican voters and only was reelected on the back of Democratic votes.

6. While Christine O’Donnell was on the podium making her acceptance speach after handing Mike Castle his ass in the Delaware primary – he LEAKED a statement to Fox news that the NRSC WOULD NOT SUPPORT O’Donnell in the general election. Then, the next morning when conservatives were putting their feet into his chest – he LIED and said he never said he wouldn’t support her. Then – he didn’t support her.

This man is the biggest go*ddamn liar on the planet and an utter disgrace to the GOP. He is worth replacing with a Dimmocrit if no other option exists.

As long as this guy is active in the GOP – the GOP will remain a crappy ineffecive party.

Anyone who does not believe in restricting the power and scope of the federal government to the limits placed upon it by the Constitution is not a Conservative. That means Cornyn. I don’t care what his “conservative rating” is.

Since the bill’s passage in the Senate was assured, Cornyn was able to excuse himself from voting for it just as Nancy Pelosi excused Blue Dog Dems to vote against the Democratic Party preference if the party’s position wasn’t in doubt.

Cornyn is a political hack. He only acts tough when it is time for re-election. He is supposedly more conservative than Jim DeMint. It is all a big scam. Congress holds hundreds of votes a year. All these chumps have to do is vote “conservative” 99% of the time on meaningless toilet paper and vote with the dems on the stuff that matters. He voted for the stimulus. He also voted for TARP. He also voted to invoke cloture on Schumer’s bill.

As a Texan, I am definitely looking for a way to replace Cornyn, but not because the man ISN’T a conservative. He is. While Stockman and Stovall go after him for supporting debt limit increases and such, the reality is that sometimes you have to vote in favor of things you don’t like based upon the reality of the situation. If tomorrow Republicans ran both sides of Congress and had the White House, we couldn’t just “balance the budget.” It would be disastrous. We have to work our way up to it.

But I still want Cornyn gone. The man is EXACTLY what is wrong with Washington – career politician who cares more about his power and his party’s power. His PAC’s interference with OTHER STATE’S Primaries, like Alaska, against Tea Party candidates in unconscionable.

Whether a Republican sided with Ted Cruz or not during the shutdown was the BIG test to see who you stood with — conservatives or Democrats. Notice how few “Republicans” took the conservative side. As if that weren’t bad enough, they were calling Ted Cruz every name in the book and they sounded JUST LIKE DEMOCRATS. I pray to God Texans remove Cornyn.

A trainer ties a juvenile elephant to a stake, and the elephant learns that he/she is not strong enough to get away. After a while, it stops trying. Then, when the elephant is grown, and easily strong enough to escape, it never tries.

The Republican party is going to tear itself apart with amnesty. I have not heard one Republican make an argument for how amnesty is going to help our economy or the middle class. Paul Ryan said, he would happily make that argument but I have never heard it. For those who support amnesty who can make the argument that the USA needs this? Not what we can do to help the illegals and their families but how is any of this going to help the legal citizens of the USA and our families? It seems to me there isn’t a good argument for it. And yet this is the number one issue to tear the Republicans apart and usher in another Democrat.